Stateline Tasmania

Jack Johnston

AIRLIE WARD: When will the surprises end in state politics? For the second time in two weeks, the Premier David Bartlett fronted an urgent press conference with startling news.

This week it was the Police Commissioner causing him grief. In an unprecedented move, the commissioner, Jack Johnston, stepped down as he got caught up in a mysterious long-running police investigation involving some of the state's most senior political and legal figures.

Crisis after crisis means the Premier's message of a kind and clever Tasmania has been lost in daily crisis management. Simon Cullen reports.

SIMON CULLEN: The news came in a hastily convened press conference.

DAVID BARTLET, PREMIER: I spoke with the Police Commissioner my office and he has voluntarily stepped aside from his position while the investigation is undertaken.

SIMON CULLEN: On Wednesday night, the Police Commissioner Jack Johnston was interviewed under caution over allegations he disclosed official secrets, a crime that carries a maximum jail term of 21 years.

David Bartlett won't elaborate on the basis of the allegations so it's unclear whether they relate to the ongoing police investigation into a magisterial appointment that led to the downfall of the former deputy premier Steve Kons.

DAVID BARTLETT: I am not making any judgment about the veracity of the allegations against him but his decision is clearly the most proper response to these circumstances.

RANDOLPH WIERENGA, TASMANIAN POLICE ASSOCIATION: We need to stress that this is an ongoing investigation and that the Commissioner is entitled to the presumption of innocence until the conclusion of this matter.

SIMON CULLEN: Forty years ago, Jack Johnston started as a junior constable and over the years has been seconded to the National Crime Authority, and is a member of the high level National Counter Terrorism Committee.

As he's risen through the ranks, especially as deputy commissioner he has created plenty of animosity within the force.

Earlier this year the Police Association considered holding a secret ballot to test their members' confidence in Mr Johnston. The Police Commissioner is no danger to controversy. The opposition parties used his promotion to attack then Premier Paul Lennon because the job was not advertised.

PEG PUTT, FORMER GREENS LEADER: It feeds perceptions of cronyism and is exactly the way Paul Lennon should not have started out this year if he wanted to make over his image in the community.

PAUL LENNON, FORMER PREMIER: There was no justification or need to advertise the position. Jack Johnston has been the deputy commissioner in Tasmania for 11 years and over that period we've watched the Tasmanian Police Service become the most outstanding police service in the nation.

SIMON CULLEN: The airing of these allegations will significantly damage that reputation. David Bartlett says he went public in the interests of transparency.

It sparked more bad headlines for the Labor Government which has seen plenty of them since the 2006 election.

Initially, it was the then deputy premier Bryan Green who signed a monopoly deal with the Tasmanian Compliance Corporation for builders' accreditation. He was tried twice on criminal charges of attempting to interfere with an executive office, both resulting in hung juries. He now sit s on the backbench.

He was joined this year by Steve Kons, who was caught lying to State Parliament over a judicial appointment. The Government has also been forced to fend off allegations the then premier Paul Lennon tried to bully those in charge of assessing the pulp mill proposal, including former Supreme Court judge Christopher Right.

When Paul Lennon delivered his shock resignation three months ago, David Bartlett was elevated to the top position, promising a new vision for the state but so far he's struggled to get any traction on his new message of being clever and kind.

NICK MCKIM, GREENS LEADER: This is a government that is lurching from crisis to crisis, its public policy being made on the run in responsibility to crisis situations and that is no way to run a Government and no way to run Tasmania.

RENE HIDDING, OPPOSITION POLICE SPOKESMAN: What we are seeing now is David Bartlett trying to present himself as an 11-week-old sweet smelling rose. And of course he has been hard-wired into these Labor disasters for a number of years now.

SIMON CULLEN: Last week it was the revelation that the former ministerial driver for Paula Wriedt was taking legal action against the Government. That is still outstanding.

This week's events are likely to continue to sidetrack the Government.

DAVID BARTLETT: I am advised that the investigation will require a number of weeks - two to three weeks - to be completed. And at that time the file would be referred to the DPP, who informs me several weeks would be required for him to review that file. And so up to seven or eight weeks is what he informs me.

NICK MCKIM: It is highly inappropriate that the police investigate themselves. The public must have confidence in this investigative process and the only way that that can be delivered is by the Government moving to establish a commission of inquiry to ensure that the investigation is independent and proper.

SIMON CULLEN: There's also an argument that given bad blood within the force towards Jack Johnston it would be better for him if someone outside the state took over the investigation. But the Police Association argues the system is working because the commissioner stood aside.

RANDOLPH WIERENGA: Our members are highly skilled in relation to investigating police. They've done it for a long time. Our members have been involved in investigating police right around the country and I respect their skills in relation to that.

SIMON CULLEN: Predictably, the latest crisis has fuelled calls for an independent body to investigate allegations of improper conduct by public officials and police.

JEFF MALPAS, ETHICIST: I don't think the main issues in Tasmania are primarily about organised crime or about widespread corruption of the sort that people think of when they talk about corruption.

I think the issues are much more to do with breakdowns in process, with a failure of... to understand the nature of ethical conduct in government in cases and fundamentally about educating our politicians and some of our... some of the senior members of our administrative bodies about the sorts of obligations they have and what good process, what good practice amounts.

RENE HIDDING: We've been saying we need a form of ICAC and an ethics process built into it. An ICAC needs to be robust enough so it can step in as soon as there is a perception that officers may have been done something wrong. And everybody would understand for that you need somebody organised to do that, set up to do that with a set of protocols and no connections to them.

RANDOLPH WIERENGA: We have nothing to fear in relation to an independent commission. The police are the most highly scrutinised public organisation within the state. We have a code of ethics. We have a code of conduct. We have an internal investigation unit. We have oversight by the Ombudsman. We are subject to integrity tests, we have to supply details in relation to our bank accounts if that's required. There are a raft of measures in place in relation to our accountability that no other area has.

SIMON CULLEN: Exactly 10 years ago today, the day the Labor Party in opposition promised to set up an independent authority to look at serious complaints about against police.

The policy was dropped after the 1998 election and since then successive governments have baulked when faced with the issue. Last month, the Premier was still downplaying the need for an independent body.

DAVID BARTLETT: What I believe we do have in Tasmania is an independent investigative body in our police service.

SIMON CULLEN: Announced the shock news yesterday, the Premier's position changed.

DAVID BARTLETT: I have studied and tried to understand in depth the issues around the independence or otherwise that some argue about our police service in Tasmania. And I have come to a position myself and I can indicate to you that position is... has changed from previous position.

SIMON CULLEN: Today, he went further, saying that after Monday's cabinet meeting he would announce a raft of ideas to restore confidence in Tasmanian democracy.

DAVID BARTLETT: There is a requirement for clarification and clarity within the Police Act and other associated acts, to ensure that we have a truly independent police service in Tasmania.

I am also of the view and I will be discussing this view with my Cabinet colleagues on Monday morning, that we should do more work on a separate investigative power within Tasmania.

SIMON CULLEN: David Bartlett's adamant his new position is not a backflip, rather than an evolution of thought.